The best show on TV is “The Last Ship.” A lot of people will probably disagree.
It began airing during the summer of 2014. The first season laid a foundation of strong characters, a multi-pronged plot and a believable diverse cast. In its just-completed second season, the show shines even brighter.
Rather than taking the viewer down a path of ever-less-believable scenarios, the writers thoughtfully chose the opposite direction (egads!) – making the storyline more plausible. That doesn’t happen often on TV, and it’s another powerful reason to give the show a shot if you haven’t already.
But beyond that, there are some deeper, subtle issues playing out on the screen, ones I’m not so sure the casual reader captures. Certainly, the honor of military service (along with the pain and sacrifice) is readily apparent. Good people die. That happens in real life and is reflected in scenes. People (characters) you care about succumb to violence, the plague or at the hands of stupid, power-mad zealots. Sounds like some of the things occurring around the globe that we read in the news.
You may not want that type of reality. But seeing tough, strategic military decisions being made without mincing words and giving full credence to what a ship leader (or the President) has to carry on his conscience opens your eyes just a bit wider than they might otherwise be.
In the first year of the series, the ship is on open seas when a plague eliminates 90 percent of humans around the world. They search for the cure, and encounter pockets of survivors in various enclaves, some with their own agenda to use their flocks for their select power play.
Pure survival, the loss of families, disconnection from telecommunications, food and fuel all play out during that first season. It’s raw and intense.
During the second season, when a series often struggles to maintain momentum from the first, “The Last Ship” picked up the character development, the conflicts and intensity. If anything, the show became more real (and perhaps too much for the viewer who wants to escape from reality rather than see it reflected on the screen).
Deeper evils appeared. Battles big and small raged. Submarine and battleship dodged each other, then engaged with their titanic weapons.
Part of the intrigue is the military engagement – us vs. them, good guys vs. the bad. You can envision the bad because you see similar actions in countries today, and you hope good prevails. It mostly does, but not without cost.
Beyond the fighting, there’s a deeper theme at play, one that shows the inclusiveness of the United States and our military, a powerful source of our strength as a nation -- the diversity of the crew on the ship and the entire cast of the show. The creators took extreme care to bring every segment of our society into the action, and then show their humanity.
It is best encapsulated as season two ended, the ship powering up the Mississippi River to find a new home for the President as the broken and disconnected nation hopes to begin anew. They chose St. Louis because of its central location, but the climactic scene demonstrates the location is more than that.
Every race and background is together. Old hug young. Kids shake hands with the captain. Women and men embrace. Americans of every ethnic background intermingle, touching, kissing, connecting. The cure is thus shared.
You can’t help but think of nearby Ferguson, MO, and how a message is being delivered by this scene: That the many backgrounds of U.S. citizens are a source of our strength, as they should be.
It began airing during the summer of 2014. The first season laid a foundation of strong characters, a multi-pronged plot and a believable diverse cast. In its just-completed second season, the show shines even brighter.
Rather than taking the viewer down a path of ever-less-believable scenarios, the writers thoughtfully chose the opposite direction (egads!) – making the storyline more plausible. That doesn’t happen often on TV, and it’s another powerful reason to give the show a shot if you haven’t already.
But beyond that, there are some deeper, subtle issues playing out on the screen, ones I’m not so sure the casual reader captures. Certainly, the honor of military service (along with the pain and sacrifice) is readily apparent. Good people die. That happens in real life and is reflected in scenes. People (characters) you care about succumb to violence, the plague or at the hands of stupid, power-mad zealots. Sounds like some of the things occurring around the globe that we read in the news.
You may not want that type of reality. But seeing tough, strategic military decisions being made without mincing words and giving full credence to what a ship leader (or the President) has to carry on his conscience opens your eyes just a bit wider than they might otherwise be.
In the first year of the series, the ship is on open seas when a plague eliminates 90 percent of humans around the world. They search for the cure, and encounter pockets of survivors in various enclaves, some with their own agenda to use their flocks for their select power play.
Pure survival, the loss of families, disconnection from telecommunications, food and fuel all play out during that first season. It’s raw and intense.
During the second season, when a series often struggles to maintain momentum from the first, “The Last Ship” picked up the character development, the conflicts and intensity. If anything, the show became more real (and perhaps too much for the viewer who wants to escape from reality rather than see it reflected on the screen).
Deeper evils appeared. Battles big and small raged. Submarine and battleship dodged each other, then engaged with their titanic weapons.
Part of the intrigue is the military engagement – us vs. them, good guys vs. the bad. You can envision the bad because you see similar actions in countries today, and you hope good prevails. It mostly does, but not without cost.
Beyond the fighting, there’s a deeper theme at play, one that shows the inclusiveness of the United States and our military, a powerful source of our strength as a nation -- the diversity of the crew on the ship and the entire cast of the show. The creators took extreme care to bring every segment of our society into the action, and then show their humanity.
It is best encapsulated as season two ended, the ship powering up the Mississippi River to find a new home for the President as the broken and disconnected nation hopes to begin anew. They chose St. Louis because of its central location, but the climactic scene demonstrates the location is more than that.
Every race and background is together. Old hug young. Kids shake hands with the captain. Women and men embrace. Americans of every ethnic background intermingle, touching, kissing, connecting. The cure is thus shared.
You can’t help but think of nearby Ferguson, MO, and how a message is being delivered by this scene: That the many backgrounds of U.S. citizens are a source of our strength, as they should be.
